


Angel of Mercy

by scrunt



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: F/M, Historical Hetalia, Nationverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 16:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16122470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrunt/pseuds/scrunt
Summary: An indulgent ficlet of Australia meeting nyo!America during the first world war.





	Angel of Mercy

The stench of the tent was putrid.  Antiseptic, gunpowder, decay, vomit, and other bodily fluids intermingled into a deadly concoction that stained the air.  It was a sickly-sweet scent that was all-consuming in its intensity: a pollution of war, of death and agony, that clogged Bruce’s lungs.  Even after all this time, the stink still made his eyes water.  
  
     The medical tents on the front lines were as horrific as the trenches themselves, and part of Bruce was grateful that his struggling pulse overwhelmed his hearing.  The meek cries of his comrades were drowned out as muffled background noise to the rhythm of his teetering heart …

Tha _-thump,_ tha _-thump,_ tha _-thump–_

     Gently, a hand took Bruce’s own, and he turned his head to meet the eyes of another nation.  He had met her previously--perhaps this morning or earlier--and he remembered she said that she’d felt drawn to his presence, finding him here at Fromelles.  He had felt her too.  It was peculiar how nations functioned, sometimes.  She reminded him of the girls used on pinup posters, but now her nurse’s uniform portrayed her as a beauty of propaganda instead; the sort of inspiring sight that drove men to war in the first place.

      _The United States of America,_ Bruce recalled, and he slowly blinked at her.

     ‘Emily.’  
  
     Emily smiled, and she gave Bruce’s hand a light squeeze, leaning over to apply a clean, damp cloth to his forehead.  He thought he may have smiled back, but he wasn’t certain.  Darkness overcame him as he slipped into unconsciousness once more.

**Author's Note:**

> The name 'Bruce' is not the name I commonly use for Australia, but I like to give him different names for different time periods. I feel like while Bruce is a rather stereotypical name today, it's a fittingly 'Aussie' name for the early 20th century.
> 
> This particular depiction of nyo!America is based off a friend's interpretation of her. :)


End file.
